Time to Understand

I was reading the March Redbook Magazine while I waited to get my haircut. More than 15 minutes into the wait I found myself reading an “advice” question and answer about what do with a friend who has a blog and is always pestering you to comment. The answer was to set boundaries on the time you can give to what your friend is pressing upon you.

I ended up waiting for 30 minutes beyond my haircut appointment. That was 30 extra minutes to consider what all my friends must be thinking about me for asking them to read and comment.

When my stylist finally called for me, I paused in my thoughts about what I might say (or think) about her inevitable apologies for being late. My gut reaction was to hope that I could express that dissatisfaction without just saying, “Oh, It’s all right.” (When it really wasn’t.)

Fortunately, her apology didn’t play out until the end of my haircut. I say fortunately because that gave me time to understand.

Her children were unexpectedly off school that day. She had taken someone for “blood work” in the morning and those tests took longer than expected. One child was home with a possible ear infection. So, she was contemplating how to schedule a trip to the doctor between working that day and returning to work that night. And she was worried about another child who hadn’t arrived home, yet. Plus, she just broke the salon coffee pot. And now her haircuts were backing up.

I accepted her apologies and offered to style my own hair at home. I left the salon only an hour after arriving, which wasn’t more than ten or fifteen minutes longer than usual.

1 Comment

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I followed you back over here and I’m glad I did! 🙂 I try not to pester my friends to read my blog. Some of my friends are really supportive and enjoy reading it, while two of my very best friends don’t seem to get into it much. That’s okay. When I post new pictures of my children or something I think they might particularly enjoy, I’ll send them a link and ask them to check it out and they will.

That’s nice you were able to listen and understand why your stylist was late. It sounds like she was having a very rough day!